ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT; TO ROME WITH LOVE & RED LIGHTS – CFQ Spotlight Podcast 3:28

Comedy on Ice: Prehistoric creatures deal with vast, geological calamity in ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT.
Comedy on Ice: Prehistoric creatures deal with vast, geological calamity in ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT.

By any logic, the prehistoric creatures of the ICE AGE franchise should be extinct by now, or at the very least have migrated to the direct-to-video market, like their colleagues over at THE LAND BEFORE TIME had the grace to do. But no, here we are with ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT, the 3D, CG-animated film in which we rejoin family mammoth Manny (voice by Ray Romano), irascible saber-tooth tiger Diego (Denis Leary), and wacky sloth Sid (John Leguizamo) as they deal with the break-up of Pangaea, an iceberg full of animal pirates and, for some reason, a teen mammoth (Keke Palmer) who just wants to belong to the cool gang (never mind the shifting of land masses that WILL VERY LIKELY KILL HER).
Cinefantastique Online’s Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons went to see all the animal hijinks and weigh in on how the fourth installment of the ICE AGE franchise fares, whether the filmmakers are at all invested in these films at this point, and where the hell did all the humans go? Then, Steve takes a look at the genre elements in Woody Allen’s latest, TO ROME WITH LOVE, and Dan gives his thoughts on the paranormal thriller RED LIGHTS. Plus, what’s coming to theaters next week.

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Khan's 'Spider-Man' Villain Role Update

irrfan-khanIn an article at the NY TIMES, it was indicated that Irrfan Khan (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE) will be playing the comic book character Nels Van Adder.
Nels Van Adder was a researcher who unwittingly first tested the formula that would later bring about the Green Goblin. In the Marvel comics, this resulted in Van Adder becoming a monstrous and deadly creature, sometimes referred to as the “Proto-Goblin”.
proto-GoblinKhan was evidently  unfamiliar with the character, not even sure of his name, having seen only a few pages of the “top-secret” script to the film.
If based on the comic book story, this would give George Stacy (Denis Leary) a more significant and directly involved role to play than simply being Gwen Stacy’s (Emma Stone) father.
Annie Parisse is set to play Van Atter’s wife.

Denis Leary to join 'Spider-Man'?

Leary_rescueMEAccording to The Hollywood Reporter,  Denis Leary (RESCUE ME) is in talks to play Captain George Stacy, the policeman father of Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), Peter Parker’s (Andrew Garfield) love interest.
In the comic books, Capt. Stacy deduces Peter Parker is Spider-Man, but keeps the knowledge to himself, tacitly approving his activities.  He dies after being hit by falling bricks during a battle between Spider-Man and Doc Ock — an accident Gwen blames on the web-slinger. This of course complicates her relationship with Peter, leading to a temporary break-up.
It’s unknown if the script by  James Vanderbilt and Alvin Sargent of the as-yet-untitled movie will feature any of these incidents, or variations thereof.